The Daily times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1886-1889, 1887-12-18
EXPLODING A CAVE.
Edward WHO and the little Woman on
Their Mexican Travels.

Edward WHO and the Little Woman on
Their Mexican Travels.
Special Correspondence.
is THE WILDs or MEXICO. Dec We
only waited for daylight 70 begin our OK
tI0rati0n of the cave, where our cook said
we could find bones and water bottles, be-
sides many other things, and as soon rs day
was fairly come we were ready, and had
provided ourselves with two lamps which
did dutv az other times upon our carriage,
and with several sticks Of wood, which
we found afterward of much service, as
they burned with q clear, steady flame,
though throwing OF much smoke.
The servant took q lassO. Ratchet and
some food. and with these we started.
The little woman BEGAN 90 grow nervous
and made several objections, and finally
said that She thought we could get along
without any other water jar than the one
we now had All there was was 20 ill
this one Oftencr eyes, signora, but we
shall not find water sometimes for two
days. "Wen, then Jet him go alone. !
don't think care about seeing all those
horrible things he tells us about, be
sides. perhaps there are animals in there;
of course knowthcre are no such things
as ghosts. and / don't want You 20 sup
pose / am afraid, for I'm not. 80
suggested that she should remain in
the camp and ! would go with the cook,
but when she found / was firm, the little
w man rose To the occasion and said. a
wifcs duty calls her wherever her hus-
band goes; besides, ! wouldn't like TO
stay la camp alone
So we started. and after very bad
quarter of an hours climbing over rocks
W. reached the mouth of the cavern,
which did not appear 70 have an opening
until we were almost into IT, We stopped
long enough % light our sticks, reserving
our lamps for the last, and followed our
guide The little woman kept tight hold
of my arm, and / am sure / felt her
tremblc q little at first, but soon she as
we'll as lost al other sentiments in nd
mirati0n Of the beauty Of the scene.
Though have been in many cavcrns
never have seen any that could compare
with that for beauty. The walls and
columns of crystal white stalactitcs ap-
pearel TO be studded with a front work Of
diamonds which glittcrcd white in the
light of our namboauX one, the first
cavern bad 1uted columns.
Further ON was another ana larger cave,
surrounded by small lateral openings, and
What struck ne as most singular was
that the forums OF she stalgCtites should be
$50 different I'm the large cavern they take
the shape of giant statues, and some OF
them were really true to nature, par
tlcuar.y one which rcsembled yelled
woman with an outstrctched arm. to q
most remarkable extent The roof of
this cavern was one bcwildcring mass Of
arches. which had been formed by the
same causes, but the effect was as though
we were in q great yaultcd cathedral, and
To make the illusion still more perfect
there was a stalagmitc i'm the form Of a
font holding i'm It's basin a quantity Of
pure crystal water While we were adj
miring this the cook said: "llcre are the
water jars. The signora need not be
afraid And saying this he led the way
10 q lateral opening, which we saw had
been made by the falling of the water,
and there lay upon the ground some
twenty skulls. some Of them hidden I'M
der a coating of the same material as
the stalactites, while the others had
maintained their original bony stfuc-
ture. being out of the reach OF the
direct filtration Of the water. Around
and among these were scattered numbers
OF vases and pottery of pleasing and sym
mctrcal form, and as we afterward dis
covered rich and artistic colOrine The
little woman found a sort of clay beetle
with place for whistle, and | found
clay turtle made for the same purpose.
We also found several Obsidian arrow
heads and a stone knife shaped more like
q meat ax than anything else. had TO
laugh 20 myself little TO see her grub
about looking for relics, pushing the grin
ming skulls aside with her foot in her
search--a search which was rewarded by
finding what had clearly been bone
shuttle for weaving, and an ugly little
idol about six inches long.
We were reluctant 90 leave, but were
Obliged 40 last 10 60 without having
visited one-tenth OF the wonders Of this
cavern. which was doubtless one Of the
sacred burial places Of the ancient Chic
hiouimecs, and we bore away all we
could carry Of the relics which pleased us
most or seemed most curious The little
woman had gathered the skirt OF her
bloomer full, and the cook carried two
large water jars in triumph, while
brought up the rear with my pockets aud
garie bag full. EDwARD WHO.